Plans to replace a one-lane 127-year-old steel-and-timber bridge in Hinsdale are inching forward, but residents still have questions about how it will affect traffic in the area.

The village and the engineering firm, ClarkDietz, presented an update for plans for the Oak Street bridge project to a group of residents Wednesday at the village hall.

Allen Staron, project engineer from ClarkDietz, said construction on the new bridge that will cross over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe tracks will begin in 2015, and work is expected to be done until 2016.

The village is moving into completion of the planning phase, and a public hearing will be scheduled some time in January, he said.

The work calls for a two-lane bridge that will be three-feet higher than the existing bridge, 20-feet-wider and 50-feet-longer. It also will require some changes to Oak and other adjacent streets.

Oak Street, for instance, will be widened by three to four feet near the bridge, and will be elevated.

"It will have a more gradual slope (approaching the bridge) for an improved sight line," Staron said.

A retaining wall will be constructed in Highland Park, and five trees will be removed. Three trees will be removed from the Oak Street parkway, two will be taken down from Hillgrove Street, five will be removed from property of Hinsdale Adventist Hospital. None of the trees that will be taken down are in front of private residences, Staron said.

The materials for the retaining wall will match the bridge.

"I think the bridge and wall should have a common theme," Staron said. "We don't want it to be just a solid concrete, gray wall."

Ed Mettheeussen of Hinsdale asked if the wall in the park could accommodate a staircase that would enable residents from the north to reach the Highlands Metra Train station without walking over the bridge.

Staron agreed that would be a good idea.

Other changes include making Hillgrove, which is now one-way, a two-way street and putting four-way stops at Oak Street and Chicago Avenue and at Chicago and County Line Road. Previously, installing traffic lights had been considered, but Staron said the traffic signals were eliminated because residents didn't want them.

Scott Thick, who lives on County Line Road, said he's concerned that having a two-lane bridge will encourage people to use County Line to get to Ogden Avenue.

"What are you going to do to prevent people from bombing down County Line Road to Ogden?" he asked. "I don't want a significant amount of traffic down my street."

Trustee Laura LaPlaca, who chaired the meeting, said the impact on local traffic patterns is being studied, but decisions on whether to add any types of traffic calming devices have not been made.

"We're not ready to pour concrete triangles or put in cul-de-sacs," she said.

"We're going to evaluate everything we can," added village manager David Cook.

The project, estimated to cost between $13 million and $17 million, is being funded from state and federal sources. No village money is required for the project, Cook said.